Teaching German

From the Fringe

Mystery boy claims he lived in the forest for years

A teenager has popped up in Berlin, speaking English, very little German, and claiming he lived in the woods with his father until he was killed two weeks ago. The boy doesn't know his last name or where he's from.

The boy says he spent five years in the woods with his dad

Berlin police say they're looking into the story of an English-speaking teenager who showed up at city hall claiming he'd spent the last five years living in the woods with his father.

"This is certainly a strange story," said Michael Maass, a police spokesman, on Friday.

The boy said he and his father began living in the forest after his mother was killed in a car accident, according to Maass. He told authorities that he and his father lived in a tent and earthen dugouts before his father was killed in a fall two weeks ago.

Maass said the approximately 17-year-old boy did not know where his family originally came from and nor what his last name is. He said his father had called him Ray. He apparently speaks fluent English and only broken German.

"The missing persons bureau is investing," Maass said, and the world police body Interpol is involved as well. Maass said it was possible the boy had spent time in other European countries before arriving in Germany.